one
1995 after the winter vacation, Zou Xiaojing received a notice and was sent to our school to study for a master's degree. In this way, she can save time to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination, do some work outside, earn some money and let her parents catch their breath. Zou Xiaojing comes from a rural family in Zhucheng, Shandong Province. His family is poor, so it is difficult for parents to support several children to study.
Actually, Zou Xiaojing has been working part-time since she was admitted to Tsinghua University Radio Department on 1992. She helps sort mail in the school mailroom.
Just a few days after Zou Xiaojing knew that she had been sent to graduate school, she accidentally found an absent-minded letter while sorting out her mail. Tsinghua University Restaurant was written on the envelope in pencil, and my father accepted it. There is no signature, and the handwriting is very immature, as if it were written by a primary school student. Look at the postmark It belongs to Guiyang. This is obviously a dead letter, which means that it is impossible to deliver and there is no way to return it, so we have to hand it over to the post office for handling. However, the crooked handwriting on the envelope touched Zou Xiaojing's heart. She opened the envelope in the hope of finding some delivery clues.
The letter is written on the back of the tin foil paper of the cigarette case;
Hello, Dad, it's Dongzi. Don't you want me? After you left, my sister left soon. I am begging in cabbage street now, and I am always beaten. Please come and see me. I can't live any longer. Last month, I washed dishes for the owner of the restaurant. He said I didn't clean the dishes and hit me on the head with a hammer. I'm still dizzy. I also look after the children for him. I fell asleep watching them. He took off his sole and hit me in the face. Dad, I really can't live any longer. Please come and pick me up. I can rub hemp rope for you and roll you a cigarette.
After reading this letter, Zou Xiaojing's heart suddenly tightened. She took the letter to the dormitory to discuss with her classmates, and then went to the school restaurants separately to ask if there was a son from Guiyang who was Dongzi. A week has passed without a clue. There are two chefs whose hometown is Guiyang, saying that there is no "cabbage street" in Guiyang.
Zou Xiaojing felt strange and disappointed. She went to the bookstore to buy an atlas of Guizhou Province and opened the map of Guiyang. She really can't find any "cabbage street". She also called the information desk in Guiyang 1 14 to inquire about the telephone number of the street office of Baicai Street. People answered that she didn't have this place name at all.
At the beginning of April, 1996, the internship time for graduates arrived. Zou Xiaojing has walked the graduate students and does not need to participate in graduation practice and thesis design. Zou Xiaojing could have used this time to work part-time outside to earn more money. She volunteered to participate in the thesis design in remote areas. On the application form, Zou Xiaojing carefully filled in the word "Guiyang".
two
Zou Xiaojing chose Guiyang for two reasons. First, Guiyang is a place where large electromechanical enterprises and scientific research institutions are concentrated in China. What's more, she still remembers the letter and "Dongzi". She guessed that "cabbage street" must be a particularly small alley, so no one knows, but as long as there is this place, you can definitely ask around when you get to Guiyang.
After Zou Xiaojing arrived in Guiyang, he first reported to the internship unit, and then immediately inquired about the place "Cabbage Street". Many old people who have lived in Guiyang all their lives are at a loss after hearing this name. She also went to the place name office of the municipal government to check the information, including several suburban counties in Guiyang, and there is no "cabbage street" street. Zou Xiaojing was completely disappointed.
One day, when she was practicing in the workshop, she overheard a worker joking with another person: "You have the ability to run wild in cabbage street." When Zou Xiaojing heard this, his heart moved and he quickly grabbed the worker and asked, "Where is the cabbage street you said?" The workmate said with a smile, "In fact, there is no such place as cabbage street. We young men in Guiyang have a saying:' Young men in the east of the city are handsome, young men in the west are dull, young men in the south of the city love them, and young men in the north of the city are rotten cabbage'. This cabbage street is just north of the city. "
Hearing this, Zou Xiaojing was pleasantly surprised and immediately took a taxi to the north of the city.
As soon as he got off the bus, Zou Xiaojing immediately understood why it was called "Cabbage Street". The streets are full of sewage, garbage is piled up on the roadside, flies are flying around, and houses on the roadside are dilapidated. Zou Xiaojing went from door to door, and Dongzi was a little demented at an early age. He dropped out of school before finishing primary school. His parents don't like him and often quarrel over the child. Dongzi's parents divorced three years ago and nobody wanted him. Dongzi's father went to Beijing to work. It is said that he later opened a restaurant in Tsinghua campus and sent back 200 yuan. I haven't heard from you since. Last year, Dongzi's mother ran away with someone else, leaving Dongzi alone in Cabbage Street. At first, everyone sympathized with him and gave him food and clothing. Later, the neighbor found the child stealing and left him alone. The brainless letter was written to him by a child who just entered the second grade.
The man who volunteered to lead the way took Zou Xiaojing to a dilapidated yard and shouted at the yard, "Dongzi, your father sent someone to pick you up."
The yard is full of chicken feathers and internal organs. A scrawny child stood in the middle of the yard with a bamboo basket on his shoulder, which was full of dead chickens. I was shocked when I heard someone calling him and saw Zou Xiaojing come in. Seeing the thin child, Zou Xiaojing was heartbroken. She stepped forward, took the child by the hand and said, "Dongzi, your father asked me to see you."
She took Dongzi back to the dormitory of the internship factory, cooked for him first, and watched him gobble up, which made Zou Xiaojing even more sad. Then let the child take a bath, put on new clothes and look carefully. In fact, he is still a handsome child.
three
During this period, Zou Xiaojing devoted all his time and energy to Dongzi, except internship in the workshop. She took Dongzi to shopping malls, amusement parks and zoos to see tigers, as if to make up for all the misfortunes that Dongzi had suffered. Whenever Dongzi asked him when he would visit his father, Zou Xiaojing said, "Wait until my sister finishes her internship. Your father is waiting for you far away. " Looking at the happy smiling face of the child, Zou Xiaojing felt very happy herself. At least, she didn't guess the letter wrong
The child has been found, but what about the future of the child? In order to give children a stable future, Zou Xiaojing runs between various departments. She first went to the Civil Affairs Bureau, hoping that the government could adopt Dongzi, but the Civil Affairs Bureau said that Dongzi was not an orphan, and his parents were there. In addition, welfare homes are short of funds and the adoption procedures are very strict. Zou Xiaojing was in a hurry, so he went to the Public Security Bureau to report that Dongzi's parents were suspected of abandonment and left their children in the street. In the public security bureau, she got another news that shocked her even more. As early as six months ago, Beijing police sent a letter to Guiyang Public Security Bureau, asking for help in arresting Dongzi's father. It turned out that Dongzi's father went bankrupt because of poor management and embarked on the road of drug trafficking.
What if Lulu is cut off? A student can't even support himself. How can he support another person? And that's who he is. Dongzi doesn't know what money is. When he goes to the supermarket, if he is hungry, he will reach for it and put it in his mouth. When people ask him for money, he lets them take whatever they want. Originally, he wanted to find the child first, and then slowly find the father for him. Now it is impossible for his father to find it, and Zou Xiaojing can't bear to throw such a child back to Cabbage Street.
Before Zou Xiaojing thought it over, the internship time was over. In mid-May, 1996, Zou Xiaojing received the internship appraisal. After careful consideration, Zou Xiaojing stuffed the remaining several hundred dollars into Dongzi's pocket, took Dongzi to the cabbage street station by bus, and told Dongzi, "You wait for me here for a while, and I'll be right back." Dongzi seems to have found something, silently nodded and said nothing. Zou Xiaojing hurriedly turned away, as if he had done something bad.
Back to the dormitory, Zou Xiaojing packed her luggage and boarded the express train back to Beijing two hours later. It's getting late and the streets are brightly lit. Zou Xiaojing felt hot on her face and walked around uneasily. She seemed to see Dongzi standing alone under the dim street lamp. His father abandoned him and his mother abandoned him ... Zou Xiaojing felt very painful when she thought of this. She took a taxi in a hurry and went straight to cabbage street. The night is getting deeper, and Dongzi is still waiting in silence. Zou Xiaojing held the child in her arms and couldn't help crying. Finally, she didn't wait until great regret hit her heart, only to know that her unfinished wish was a lifetime.
Back to Beijing with Dongzi, Zou Xiaojing lived a hard life for three years.
In order to arrange Dongzi, Zou Xiaojing rented a small private house near the school and let Dongzi live alone. Not at ease, he split the house in two with a curtain and slept on a wooden bed outside. Dongzi used to be so excited that he screamed in his dreams. She quickly got up, took Dongzi's hand and said, "It's okay, my sister is here." The rent, plus Dongzi's living expenses, Zou Xiaojing not only helped in the mailroom, but also found a work-study program to clean the stairs. With 300 yuan's extra income every month, she can barely make ends meet. Dongzi, who is sensible, tries her best to help her sister with the housework and doesn't ask where her father has gone. Sometimes Zou Xiaojing took the initiative to mention it, but Dongzi said, "I don't have a father, so I followed my sister."
Zou Xiaojing used to recite foreign language words, but I didn't expect Dongzi to recite them, and his pronunciation was clear. Zou Xiaojing was surprised. She mispronounced some words on purpose, and so did Dongzi. Zou Xiaojing thought that maybe the child was not born with dementia, so he had the idea of letting the child learn. She found some junior high school Chinese textbooks. I didn't expect Dongzi to have a photographic memory, and she can recite it by heart soon. Zou Xiaojing took the child to the hospital for examination. The doctor said, "The child has a strange intellectual development and a surprisingly good memory, but his logical ability is very low. If such people are well trained, they are definitely talents. " This made Zou Xiaojing pleasantly surprised.
No matter how difficult it was, Zou Xiaojing didn't tell anyone that she adopted an orphan. She just silently bears the burden of life, taking care of and cultivating a child who is not related by blood. Even in such a difficult situation, she didn't delay her homework. 1998165438+10. In October, she participated in the National Key Experiment of the Beijing Third Generation Electron Collider as the only student representative in Tsinghua University with excellent results, and won favorable comments from her peers. Under the careful cultivation of Zou Xiaojing, Dongzi also taught himself all the courses in primary schools.
four
At the beginning of March, 1999, the good news came. Because of Zou Xiaojing's outstanding performance in the electron collider experiment, Florida State University in the United States provided Zou Xiaojing with a full scholarship to study for a doctoral student in the United States, but when she went abroad, she was in trouble.
65438+1At the beginning of April, 1999, when Zou Xiaojing went to the US Embassy in China to apply for a visa with a notice and passport, the other party requested that Dongzi and Zou Xiaojing's immediate family members and Dongzi's economic guarantee in the United States be notarized. Zou Xiaojing repeatedly explained that although she and Dongzi are not immediate family members, the situation is special and it is difficult to give up. As for financial security, my scholarship is enough for two people. But the visa officer can't agree.
1999 10 ended, and the school term has passed. Zou Xiaojing silently gave up the opportunity to study abroad and found a job as a programmer in Zhongguancun with a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan. After the economic situation improved slightly, she asked someone to find a relationship to enroll Dongzi. Every day after work, Zou Xiaojing prepares meals and waits for Dongzi to come back from school, just like waiting for his son's mother, which is calm and peaceful.
At the end of February,1999,65438+Florida State University found that Zou Xiaojing didn't go to school on time. Very strange, I sent a letter to Tsinghua University asking about Zou Xiaojing. Professor Ouyang, Zou Xiaojing's tutor, thought that Zou Xiaojing had arrived in the United States and was very shocked after receiving a letter from an American school. He asked around about Zou Xiaojing's whereabouts. After learning that Zou Xiaojing gave up the opportunity to go abroad, he became a programmer in China.
After listening to Zou Xiaojing's account of the cause and effect of the incident, the white-haired old professor could not help but sigh. You can give the baby to your Jenny and me. Zou Xiaojing said awkwardly, "You are so old, where can I stand it?" The old professor said, "Son, you didn't do anything wrong. Let me think again. "
In February 2000, on the eve of the Millennium Spring Festival, Ms. Davis, an observer of UNESCO, visited Tsinghua University. At the symposium, Professor Ouyang was also invited to attend. When talking about the exchange between Chinese and American students, Professor Ouyang truthfully explained why Zou Xiaojing failed to go to the United States.
When Ms. Davis heard that there was such a reason to give up studying abroad in the world, she was very surprised and too excited to control herself for a while.
At the beginning of April, Ms. Davis sent Dongzi's autographed financial guarantee and an admission notice from a middle school in China, which cleared all obstacles for Dongzi to accompany her to the United States. Zou Xiaojing wrote to Ms. Davis to express her great gratitude. In her reply, Ms. Davis earnestly said, "It's not that you want to thank me, but that I want to thank you. But you let me see the elegance, dignity and golden heart of an intellectual woman in China. When you arrive in the United States, I am willing to provide more help ... "
At the end of May, Zou Xiaojing took Dongzi to study in the United States.